POSTAL WORKERS TO PICKET

Members of the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, will join a nationwide day of picketing Monday.

"We're not picketing to complain about wages or working conditioning," said Phil Birk, president of Local 4088. "We want to alert the public of attempts to privatize the U.S. Postal Service and how that could impact the public."

The pickets are informational only, noted Birk. "We'll be handing out literature during the day."

Pickets will be in front of post offices at Jackson and Cape Girardeau, added Birk, from 8 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 5 p.m.

"We have about 150 union members in the Cape Girardeau and Jackson area," said Birk.

This does not include carriers who are members of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

"Nobody knows how much it would cost to send mail by a private company," said Birk. "Prices would most likely depend on how far the letters are going."

The U.S. Postal Service, said Birk, can take a letter from Alaska to Florida, or California to New York, for 32 cents. "That's to all areas of the city and rural communities," said Birk.